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Around the world · Australia · since 2003

2003
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Down Under

Australia
Broad-accent bars · Pasifika drill · First Nations rap
Ride the roster1:40
Story, bloodline and 6 names

Australian rappers spent the 90s sounding American. The breakthrough came when they stopped: Hilltop Hoods' The Calling went platinum in an unmistakably Australian accent. In 2019 OneFour brought UK drill to Western Sydney's Pasifika suburbs and became the most policed band in the country.

Bloodline · 1 stop from The Bronx
  1. 1973The Bronx
  2. 2003Down Under

TransferSouth Central (LA)·London

Australian rappers imitated American accents for a decade and got nowhere. Hilltop Hoods went platinum the moment they stopped — and in 2019 OneFour skipped America entirely and took the beat from London.

Golden EraBad Apples MusicOneFour
Roster
2003
Hilltop Hoods

Adelaide, not Sydney — The Calling is where Australian rap starts.

YTW
2003
The Herddeep cut

Elefant Traks collective — political, live, and early.

YTW
2014
Briggs

Yorta Yorta man; founded Bad Apples to sign First Nations artists.

YTW
2019
Sampa the Great

Zambian-born, Botswana-raised, made in Sydney — then went home.

YTW
2019
OneFour

Mount Druitt drill; police shut down their tours before they could play.

YTW
2021
Genesis Owusudeep cut

Ghanaian-Australian; rap as art-rock and back again.

YTW

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